Fans of the bestselling book series will get their first glimpse of “The Hunger Games” film on Sunday during MTV’s Video Music Awards.

MTV announced it will air a clip from the movie, which stars Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence, of “X-Men: First Class” and “Winter’s Bone” fame, and is scheduled for release March 23, 2012.

MTV usually reserves this kind of sneak peek for its annual Movie Awards — that was where, in June, for instance, stars were on hand and preview clips were shown for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.”

“The Hunger Games” series follows the grim competition between children and young adults who are forced to fight to the death for entertainment of television viewers and their cruel government masters in a post-apocalyptic nation called Panem. “The Hunger Games” is currently the bestselling children’s series on the New York Times Bestsellers list.

The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. (as a taped delay on the West Coast) and the performers include Lady Gaga, Adele, Lil Wayne and Bruno Mars.